you would have to ask him what led him to do it. he loves his community. he served as county commissioners for ten years and did really good job at it. and you know, our incumbent congressman moved on and mike was asked to step up. for me, just a matter of loving your country and wanting to offer that perspective. i view the act of running as an act of public service. put your ideas forward. put it in the hand of voters he and live with the result. and that's what our country is about. that's sort of how i viewed my role in stepping forth. not like i had this mission in life to be a u.s. congressman. more t w it was more about offing that choice to voters and speaking about issues i felt were really important. which i had the chance to talk about. once you do that, you live with the result and you're okay as a person once you do that. >> congressman, thank you very much for your time. >> appreciate it. >> no from the this afternoon at the white house president trump

announces his new choice for labor secretary. he talks about his first few weeks of the administration and takes questions. >> i just want to mention that the nominee for secretary of the department of labor will be mr. alex acosta. he has a degree from harvard law school. great student. former clerk for judge alito and he add tremendous career. he is a member and has been a member of the national labor board and has been through senate confirmation three times. confirmed. did very, very well. so alex, i've wished him the best. we just spoke. and i think he will be a tremendous secretary of labor.

and as i think you just heard, mick mulvaney was just confirmed, weeks late, week, weeks late. office of management and budget and he will be, i think, a fantastic addition. paul singer just left. as you know, paul was very much involved with the anti-trump or as they say, never trump. and paul just left. and he has given us his total support. all about unification. we're unifying the party and hopefully we will be able to unify the country. it is very important to me. i've been talking about that for a long time but it is very, very important to me. so i want to thank paul singer for being here and for coming up to the office. he was very strong opponent and now he is a very strong ally. and i appreciate he that. i think i'll say a few word and

then we will take some question he. we've been negotiating contracts to save money on contracts that were terrible including airplane contracts that were out of control and late and terrible. just absolutely catastrophic in terms of what was happening. and we've done some very good work pf we're proud of that. and right after that, you prepare yourselves and we will take some questiones. unless have you no questions, that's always a possibility. he i'm here to update the people on the incredible progress since my inauguration. i don't think there's ever been a president-elected who in this short period of time who has done what we've done. a new rasmussen poll, in fact, because the people get it, much of the media doesn't get it. they actually get it, but they don't write it, let's put it

that way. new rasmussen poll came out and it has our eye profl rating at 55% and going up. stock market hit record numbers, as you know he. and there is a tremendous sushlg surge of optimism. it used to mean he oh, that's good, now it means that's good for jobs. very different. plants and factories are moving back into the united states and big league ford, general motors,some of them. i make this presentation directly to the american people. with the media present which is an honor to have you. many of our nations reporters and folks will not tell you the truth and treat the wonderful people of our country with the respect that they deserve. and i hope going forward we can be different and maybe get along

better if that's possible. maybe it's not and that's okay, too. unfortunately, much of the media in d.c. and new york and los angeles, speaks not for the people but for the special interests and for those profiting off a very, very obviously broken system. the press has become so dishonest that if we don't talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the american people. tremendous disservice. we have to talk about it. to find out what's going on pt because the press honestly is out of control. level of dishonesty is out of control. i ran for president to represent the citizens of our country. i am here to change the broken system so it serves their families and their communities well. i am talking and really talking on this very entrenched power structure and what we're doing

is we're talking about the power structure. we're talking about its entrenchment. as a result, the media is going through what they have to go through to often times disstart, not all the time, and some of the media is fantastic, i have to say. they are honest and man taftic. but much of it is not. pt distortion. and we will talk about it and can you ask me questions about it. but we're not going to let it happen because i'm here again to take my message straight to the people. as you know, our administration inherited many problems across government and across the economy. to be honest, i inherited a mess. it's a mess.a mess. it's a mess. at home, and abroad. a mess. jobs are pouring out of the country. you see what is going on with all of countrimpanies leaving o

country. low pay, low wages. mass instabilities evoverseas. north korea. we will take care of it, folks. we will take care of it all. i just want to let you know, i inherited a mess. beginning on day one our administration went to work to tackle these challenges. when foreign affairs we have begun enormously productive talks with many foreign leaders. much of it you've covered. to move forward towards stability and peace in the most troubled regions of the world. which there are many. prs we have had great conversations with the united kingdom and meetinges. israel, mexico, japan, china. and canada. really really productive conversations. i would say far more productive than you would understand. we've even developed a new

council with can do to promote women's business leaders and entrepreneures. very important to me. very important to my daughter, ivanka. i have directed a defense community headed by our great general, now secretary mattis. he is over there now working very hard. to submit a plan for the defeat of isis. a group that celebrates the murder and torture of innocent people in large sections of the world. used to be a small group. now it's in large sections of the world. they've spread like cancer. isis has spread like cancer. another mess i've inherited. we have imposed new sanctions on iran. totally took advantage of our previous administration. and they are the world's top sponsor of terrorism. and we're not going to stop

until that problem is properly solveed. and it is not properly solved now. it is one of the worst agreements i've ever seen drawn by anybody. i've ordered plans for rebuilding the united states military. i've had great support from the senate. great support from congress generally. we have pursued this rebuilding in the hopes we will never have to use this military. and i will tell you, that is my -- i would be so happy if we never had to use, but our country will never have had a military like the military we're about to build and rebuild. we have the greatest people on earth in you're military but they don't have the right equipment and their equipment is old. i used it, i talked about it, at every stop. depleted. it's depleted. won't be depleted for long.

and i think one of the reasons i'm standing here instead of other people is that frankly i talked about, we have to have a strong military. we have to have strong law enforcement also. so we do not go aboard into the search of war. we really are searching for peace, but peace through strength. at home we begin the monumental task of returning the government back to the people of the scale not seen in many, many years. in each of these access i'm keeping my promises to the american people. these are campaign promises. some people are so surprises we have strong borders. that's what i've been talking about for a year and a half app strong borders. so surprised. that's what they've been talking about to the press and everybody else. one promise after another, after years of politicians lying to you to get elected. they lie to the american people

in order to get elected. some things i'm doing probably aren't popular but they are necessary. for security and for other reasons. then coming to washington and pursuing their own interest which is more important to many politicians. i'm here following through on what i pledged to do. that's all i'm doing. i put it out before the american people. got 306 electoral college votes. i wasn't supposed to get 222. they said there's no way to get 222, 230 is impossible. 270, which you need, is laughable. we got 306. because people came out and voted like they had never seen before. that the way it goes. i guess it was the biggest electoral college win since ronald reagan. in other word, the media is trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on

pledges that we made and they are not happy about it. for whatever reason. and but a lot of people are happy about it. in fact i'll be in melbourne, florida, 5:00 on saturday, and i heard just heard that the crowds are massive that want to be there. i tirn on the tv, open the papers, and see stories of chaos. chaos. yet it is the exact opposite. this administration is running like a fine-tuned machine. despite the fact that i can't get my cap nbinet approved. and they are outstanding people. like senator dan coats. one of the most respect men in senate can't get approved. how do you not approve him? he has been a colleague, highly respected, brilliant guy, great guy, everybody knows it. we're waiting for approval. so we have a wonderful group of

people that's working very hard that's being very much misrepresented about and we can't let that happen. so all you have to do is look at where they are right now. the only thing they can do is delay because they have screwed things up p. believe me. let me list the things we have done in a slrt period of time. just got here. i got here with no cabinet. again, each of these actions is a promise i made toot americ th can people. we will go over some of them and we have a lot happening in weeks coming. we have withdrawn from the job killing disaster known as trance pacific partnership. we will make trade deals but we will have one on one deals bilateral. one on one deals. we have directed the elimination

of regulations that undermine manufacturing and called for expedited approval of the permits needed for america and american infrastructure. that means roads, bridge webs factoryes. people take 10, 15, 20 years to get disapproved for a factory. they go in for a permit, it's many years. at the end of the process they spend tens of millions of dollars on nonsense and at the end of the process they get rejected. they may be rejected with me, but it'll be a quick rejection. it won't take years. but mostly an acceptance. we want plants built and factories built and we want the jobs. we didn't want the jobs going to other countries. we have oppose eed hiring freeze on nonessential federal workers. we have imposed a temporary moratorium on new federal regulations. we have issue eed game-changing

new rule that says for each one new regulation two old regulations must be eliminated. makes sense.rule that says for regulation two old regulations must be eliminated. makes sense. no one has seen regulations like we have. you go to other countries and look at their industries and he you say, let me see regulations. they are a tiny fraction. i want regulations because i want safety and all entiernmental situations to be properly care of. it is very important to me. but you don't need four or five or six regulations to take care of the same thing. we have stood up for the men and women of law enforcement. directing federal agencies to ensure they are protected from crimes of violence. we have directed the creation after task force for reducing violent crime in america, including the horrendous

situation, take a look at chicago and others, taking place right now in our inner cities. horrible. we have ordered the department of homeland security and justice to coordinate a plan to destroy criminals coming into the united states with drugs. we are becoming a drug-infested nation. drugs are becoming cheaper than candy bars. and we're not going to let it happen any longer. we are keeping our nation and tax dollars safe and are now in the process of beginning it build a promised wall on the southern border. met with general, now secretary kelly, yesterday and we're starting that process. and the wall is going to be a great wall and it is going to be a wall negotiated by me, the price will come down just like it has on everything else i've

negotiated for the government. and we're going to have a wall that works. not a wall like they have now which is either nonexistent or a joke. we have ordered a crack down on sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with federal law and that harbor criminal aliens and ended the policy of catch and release on the border. no more release. no matter who you are, release. we have begun a nationwide effort to remove criminal aliens, gang members, drug dealers and others who pose a threat to public safety. we are saving american lives every single day. court system has not made it easy for us. and are even creating new office in homeland security dedicated to the forgotten american victims of the legal immigrant violence. of which there are many. we have taken decisive action it

keep radical islamic terrorist out of our country. though parts of our necessary and constitutional actions were blocked by judges in my opinion incorrect. and unsafe ruling. our administration is working night and day to keep you safe. including reporters safe. and is vigorously defend heing this lawful order. i will not back down from defending our country. i got elected on defense of our country. and i keep my campaign promises. and our citizens will be very lappy when th happy when they see the results they already are. extreme vetting will be in place and is already in place some some cases. we had to go quicker because of the bad decision we received from a circuit that's been overturned at a record number. i've heard 80%. i find that hard to believe. that's just a number i heard.

that they overturned 80 percent of the time. i that i circuit is in chaos and that circuit is frankly in turmoil. but we are appealing that and we are going further. we are issue youing a new executive action next week that will comprehensively protect our country. we will be going along the one path and hopefully winning that at the same time we will be issuing a new and very comprehensive order to protect our people. that will be done next week, sometimes toward the middle or later part. also construction of the keystone pipeline and dakota access pipelines, thousands and thousands of jobs and put new by american measures in place to require american steel for american pipe lines. in other words, they build a pipeline in this country, and we

use powers of government to make that pipeline happen, we want them to use american steel. and they are willing to do that but nobody ever asked before i came along. even this order was drawn and they didn't say that and i'm reading the order and saying, why aren't we using american steel? that's a good idea. we put it in. to drain the swamp of correction in washington, d.c., i've started by a five-year lobbying ban on white house officials. and a lifetime ban on lobbying for a foreign government. we have begun repairing to replace and repeal obamacare. obamacare is a disaster, folks. a disaster. you can say oh, obamacare. they fill up our alalleys with people that you wonder how they get there.alleys with people that you wonder how they get there.lleys with people that you wonder how they get there.

but they are not the pthe peopl the republican representatives are representing. so deep in the midst of negotiations in a very historic tax reform to bring our jobs back. bring our jobs back to this country, big league. it's already happening. but big league. i have worked to install a cabinet over delays and obstruction of senate democrats. you have seen what they've done over the last long number of years. that will be one of the great cabinets ever atestimony bled in american history. you look at rex tillerson. out there negotiating right now. general mattis i mentioned before. general public. we have great, great people. mick is with us now. we have great people. among the responsibilities, we will be ending the bleeding of jobs from our country. and negotiating fair trade deals

for our citizens. look, fair trade. not free. fair. if a country is taking advantage of us, we're not letting that happen any more. i might find a couple that don't. but for the most part, that would be a very tough job for me to do. jobs have already started to raise. ford will abandon its factory in m mexico and create jobs in michigan. fiat chrysler announced investing $1 billion in ohio and michigan creating 2,000 american jobs. they were with me a week ago. you know, you were here. general motors like wise committed to invest billions of dollars in its american manufacturing operation. keeping many jobs here that were going to leave. if i didn't get elected, believe me, they would have left.

and these jobs and these things i'm announcing would never have come here. intel just announced that it will move ahead with a new plan to arizona that probably was never going to move ahead with. and that will result in at least 10,000 american jobs. walmart announced it will create 10,000 jobs in the united states just this year because of our various plans and and initiatives. there will be many, many more. many more. these are a few we're naming. other countries have been taking advantage of us for decades. decades and decades and decades, folks. and we're not going to let that happen any more. not going to let it happen. and one more thing, i kept my promise to the american people by nominating a justice of the united states supreme court, judge neil gorsuch, from my list of 20, and who will be a true defend her of our laws and our

constitution. highly respected. should get the votes from the democrats. you may not see that. but he will get there one way or the other. he should get there the old-fashioned way. and he should get those votes. this last month has represented an unprecedented degree of action on behalf of the great citizens of our country. again, i say it, there has never been a presidency that's done so much in such a short period of time. and we haven't even started the big work yet. that starts early next week. some very gig big thinbig thing announced next week. we are just getting started. we will give a speech, as i said, at melbourne, florida at 5:00 p.m. so with that i say god bless america. let's take some questiones. mara, mara, go ahead. you were tut off pretty

violently at our last news conference. >> did you fire mike lindh? >> mike lindh is a fine person and i asked for his resignation. he respectfully gave it.flindh? >> mike lindh is a fine person and i asked for his resignation. he respectfully gave it.lindh? >> mike lindh is a fine person and i asked for his resignation. he respectfully gave it.ylindh? >> mike lindh is a fine person and i asked for his resignation. he respectfully gave it.nlindh? >> mike lindh is a fine person and i asked for his resignation. he respectfully gave it.nlindh? >> mike lindh is a fine person and i asked for his resignation. he respectfully gave it.indh? >> mike lindh is a fine person and i asked for his resignation. he respectfully gave it.ndh? >> mike lindh is a fine person and i asked for his resignation. he respectfully gave it.dh? >> mike lindh is a fine person and i asked for his resignation. he respectfh? >> there was a certain amount of information given to mike penc , with us today, i was an happy with the way that information was given. he didn't have to do that because what he did wasn't wrong. in terms of information, he saw -- what was wrong is the way that other people, including yourselves in this room were given that information. because that was classified information. it was given illegally. that's the real problem. can you talk all you want about russia, which was all, you know, fake news fabricated deal to try and make up for the loss of the democrats and plus the press plays right into it.

i saw a couple of people that were supposedly involved with all of this and they knew nothing about, if they weren't in russia, never made phone call it russia, never received a call, all fake news. all fake news. the nice thing is, i see it is starting to turn. where people are looking at the illegal, i think it's very important, the illegal giving out classified information. and let me just tell you, given out like so much. i'll give you an example. i called, as you know, mexico. it was a very confidential classified call. but i called mexico. and in calling mexico, i figured oh, had a good call, all of a sudden, it's out there for the world to see. supposed to be secret. supposed to be either con pi den bl or classified if that case.

same thing with australia. all of a sudden people are finding out exactly what took place. the same thing happened with respect to general flynn. everybody saw this. and i'm saying, the first thing i thought of when i heard about it is how does the press get this information that's classified? how do they do it? you know why? because it is an illegal process. the press should be ashamed. but the people that gave out information to the press should be ashamed of themselves. [ inaudible ] >> because when i looked at the information, i said i dent think he did anything wrong. if anything he did something right. he was coming into office. he looked at the information. he said, huh, that's fine, that's what they are supposed to do. he didn't just call russia, he called and spoke to both ways, i think there were 30 some odd countries, he is doing his job.

the thing is he didn't tell our vice president properly and that he said he didn't remember. so either way it wasn't very satisfactory to me. and i have somebody that i think will be outstapdinding for the position. that also helps, i think, in the making of my decision. but he didn't tell the vice president of the united states the facts. and then he didn't remember. and that just wasn't sell to me. yes? >> since you brought up russia, we want some clarification here. during your campaign, did anyone from your camp communicate with members of the russian government or intelligence. and if so, what was the nature of the conversations. >> the "new york times" wrote a big long front page story yesterday. very much discredited as you know. it is a joke.

the em people, i notice they were on television today saying they never spoke to russia. they weren't even a part -- really, such a minor -- i hadn't spoken to them. i don't think the one person i ever spoke to or ever met him, and he actually said he was a very low level member of, i think a committee for a short period of time. i don't think i ever met him. it was possible i walked into a room and he was sitting there. but i never met him. i didn't talk to him either. he thought it was a joke. the other person never spoke to russia, never received a call, looked at his phone records, set set ra, et cetera. people knew he represented virus countries bnepresented various . that the what he does. people know that. that's mr. manafort. who is a respected man. but i think he represented the ukraine or ukraine government or somebody. but everybody, people knew that. everybody knew that. so these people -- and he said

that he has absolutely nothing to do and never has with russia. and he said that very forcefully. i saw his statement. he said it very horsefullforcef. most papers don't print it because that is not good for their stories. three people they talked about all totally deny it. i can tell you speaking for myself i own nothing in russia. i have no loans in russia. i don't have any deals in russia. president putin called me up very nicely to congratulate me on the win of the election. he then called me up extremely nicely to congratulate me on the inauguration. which was terrific. so did almost all other leaders from almost all other countries. that's the extent. russia is fake news. this is fake news put out by the media. the real news is the fact that people probably from the obama administration, because they are there, because we have our new people going in place right now

as you know mike pompeo is now taking control of the cia. james comey at fbi. dan coats is waiting to be approved. he is a senator and highly respected one. and he is still waiting to be approved. but our new people are going in. and just while you're at it, because you mentioned this, wall street journal did a story today that was almost as disdwrasful grace /* disgraceful as the failing new york times story yesterday. this is front page. director of national intelligence just put out acting a statement. any suggestion that the united states intelligence community, this is just given to us, is withholding information and not providing the best possible intelligence to the president and his national security team. is not true. so they took this front page

story out of the wall street journal, top, and they just wrote the story that it's not true. and i'll tell you something, i'll be honest, because i sort of enjoy this back and forth and i guess i have all my life but i've never seen more dishonest media than the political media. i thought the financial media was better, much more honest. but i never get phone calls from the media. how do they write a story like that in the wall street journal without asking me. or how do they write a story like this and put it on the front page. like the story about the women and me front page big massive story. and was nasty. and then they called and said, we never said that. we like he under trump. think called up my office. we like mr. trump. we never said that. and they totally misrepresented those very wonderful women. i have to tell you. totally misrepresented. i said, give us a retraction.

they never gave us a retraction. and frankly i went on to other things. okay. >> you said you have the biggest electoral margin with regan or with 304 or 306 of -- but obama -- >> not republican. >> with -- [ inaudible ] george h.w. bush with 326 -- >> i was given that information. we had a very, very big margin. >> why should americans trust you when you accuse the information they receive of being fake when you are providing information that is -- >> i was given that information. actually i have seen that information around. it was a very substantial victory. do you agree with that? >> you're the president. >> okay, thank you.

[ inaudible ] you sidaid on a couple of occasions you will pursue the leaks. >> we will. >> can you say in terms of the intelligence community -- [ inaudible ] >> first of all, about that, we have dan coats hopefully soon. mike pompeo and james comey and they are in position. so i hope that we will straighten that out without using anybody else. the gentleman you mentioned it a very talented man, very successful man and he offered services and you know, something we may take advantage of. but i don't think we'll need that at all because of the fact

that you know, i think that we are going to be able to straighten it out very easily. as far as the general is concerned, when i first heard about it, i said, that doesn't song -- my counsel game, white house counsel. he told me and i asked him, and he can speak very well for himself. he said he doesn't think anything is wrong. really didn't think -- it was what happened after that. he didn't think anything was wrong. i didn't either. i waited a period of time and i said, to me he is doing the job. information is provided by, who i don't know, sally yates. and i was surprised because i said, doesn't sound like he did anything wrong there. but he did something wrong with respect to the vice president, and i thought that was not

acceptable. as far as the actual making the call. in fact, i've watched various programs and i've read various articles where he was just doing his job. at first everybody got very excited because they thought he did something wrong. after they thought about it, it turned out he was just doing his job. and by the way, with all of that being said, i do think he's a fine man. john? >> what will you do on the leaks? you've sid twice today -- >> very, very serious. i've gone to all the folks in charge of the various agencies, and i've actually called the justice department to look into the leaks. those are criminal leaks. they're put out by people either in agencies. i think you'll see it stopping because now we have our people in. again, we don't have our people in because we can't get them approved by the senate. we just had jeff sessions approved in justice, as an example.

we are looking into that very seriously. it's a criminal act. when i was called out on mexico, i was shocked. all this equipment, all this incredible phone equipment. when i was called on mexico, i was honestly, i was really, really surprised. but i said, you know, it doesn't make sense. that won't happen. but that wasn't that important to call. it was fine, i could show it to the world and he could show it to the world, the president, who is a very fine man, by the way. same thing with australia. i said, that's terrible that it was leaked, but it wasn't that important. then i said, what happens when i'm dealing with the problem of north korea? what happens when i'm dealing with the problems in the middle east? are you folks going to be reporting all of that very, very confidential information, very important, very -- at the highest level? are you going to be reporting about that, too? i don't want classified information getting out to the public.

in a way that was almost a test. so i'm dealing with mexico, i'm dealing with argentina. we were dealing on this case with mike flynn. all this information gets put into the "washington post" and gets put into the "new york times," and i'm saying, what's going to happen when i'm dealing on the middle east? what's going to happen when i'm dealing with really, really important subjects like north korea? we have to stop it. that's why it's a criminal penalty. yes, john? >> thank you, mr. president. i just want you to clarify a very important point. can you say definitively that nobody on your campaign had any contacts with the russians during the campaign? and on the leaks, is it fake news or is this real news? >> the leaks are real. you're the one that wrote about them and reported them. the leaks are real. you know what they said, you saw it. the leaks are absolutely real. the news is fake because so much of the news is fake.

one thing that i felt it was very important to do -- and i hope we can correct it. because there's nobody i have more respect for -- maybe a little bit -- than reporters, good reporters. it's very important to me, especially in this position. i don't mind bad stories. i can handle a bad story better than anyone, as long as it's true. over a course of time, i'll make mistakes and you'll write badly and i'm okay with that. but i'm not okay when it is fake. i mean, i watch cnn and it's so much anger and hatred and just the hatred. i don't watch it anymore because it's very good. he's saying no. it's okay, jim, you'll have your chance. but i watch others, too. you're not the only one so don't feel bad. i think it should be straight. i think it would be frankly more interesting. i know how everybody's ratings are right now are. honestly, the public would

appreciate it, i would appreciate it. again, i don't mind bad stories when it's true. but we have an administration where the democrats are making it very difficult. i think we're setting a record or close to a record in the time of approval of the cabinet. the numbers are crazy. some of them had to be approved immediately. i'm going forever and i still have a lot of people we're waiting for. that's all they're doing is delaying. you look at schumer and the mess he's got over there and they have nothing going. the only thing they can do is delay. and, you know, i think they would be better served by, you know, approving and making sure that they're happy and everybody is good. and sometimes -- i know president obama lost three or four, and you lose them on the way, and that's okay, that's fine.

but i think they would be much better served, john, if they went through the process quickly. this is just delay tactics. they say it and everybody understands it. go ahead. >> did you have anything to do with contacts in russia? >> i have nothing to do with russia. i have no deals there. when wikileaks comes out and happens to give, they're not giving classified information. they're giving stuff what was said in an office about hillary cheating on the debates. which, by the way, nobody mentions. nobody mentions that hillary received the questions to the debates. can you imagine -- seriously, can you imagine if i received the questions? it would be the electric chair. he should be put in the -- you would even call for the reinstitution of the death penalty.

maybe not you, john. yes? [ inaudible question ] >> no, i didn't. no, i didn't. excuse me. >> i fired him because of what he said to mike pence, very simple. mike was doing his job. he was calling countries and his counterparts. so it certainly would have been okay with me if he did it. i would have directed him to do it if i thought he wasn't doing it. i didn't direct him, but i would have directed him because that's his job. and it came out that way, and in all fairness, i watched dr. charles grauthimer saying he was doing his job. and i agreed with him. since then i watched other people say that. i didn't direct him, but i would have directed him if he didn't do it. jim?

[ inaudible question ] >> if i can follow up on some of the questions that have taken place so far. >> your ratings are not as good as some of the other people. >> they're pretty good right now. if i may ask, sir, you said earlier that wikileaks was revealing information about the campaign during the election cycle. you welcomed that. you said you loved wikileaks and at another campaign press conference, you called on the russians to find the missing 30,000 e-mails. >> she was actually missing 33 and then that got extended -- i did say 30 but it was actually higher than that. >> if i may ask you, sir, it sounds as though you don't have much credibility when it comes to leaking if that is something

you encouraged during the campaign. >> let me do one at a time. >> yes, sir. >> so in one case you're talking about highly classified information. in the other case you're talking about john podesta saying bad things about the boss. if john podesta said that about me and he was working for me, i would have fired him so fast his head would have spun. he said terrible things about her. regardless, if you look at the rnc, at my suggestion, and i give reince priebus credit about this. at my suggestion i said i want a very strong, defensive mechanism. i don't want to be hacked. and we did that. and you have seen that they tried to hack us and they failed. the dnc did not do that. and if they did that, they could not have been hacked. they were hacked and terrible things came in.

when i heard some of those things, i picked up the papers thinking it would be front page. it wasn't even in the papers. if i had that happen to me, it would be the biggest story in the history of publishing or the head of newspapers. i would have been the headline in every newspaper. think of it. they gave her the questions to a debate and she should have reported herself. why didn't hillary clinton announce that, i'm sorry, but i have been given the questions to a debate or a town hall, and i feel that it's inappropriate, and i want to turn in cnn for not doing a good job. >> let me follow up on that. you said the lakes are real but the news is fake. i don't understand. there seems to be a disconnect there. if the leaks are real, how can the news be fake?

>> here's the thing. the public isn't -- they read newspapers, they see television they watch. they don't know if it's true or false because they're not involved. i'm involved. i've been involved with this stuff all my life. but i'm involved. so i know when you're telling the truth or when you're not. i just see many, many untruthful things. i tell you what else i see, i see tone. the tone is such hatred. i'm really not a bad person, by the way. but the tone is such -- i do get good ratings, you have to admit that. the tone is such hatred. i watched this morning a couple -- and i have to say "fox & friends" in the morning, they're very honorable people. not because they're good because they hit me also when i do something wrong. but they have the most honest morning show. that's all i can say, it's the most honest. but the tone, jim.

if you look, the hatred. sometimes somebody gets -- well, you look at your show that goes on at 10:00 in the evening. you just take a look at that show. that is a constant hit. the panel is almost always exclusive anti-trump. the good news is he doesn't have good ratings. but the panel is almost exclusive anti-trump. and the hatred and venom coming from his mouth. the hatred coming from other people on your network. now, i will say this. i watch it, i see it, i'm amazed by it, and i just think it would be a lot better -- the public gets it. when i go to rallies, they turn around and start screaming at cnn. they want to throw their placards at cnn. i think you would do much better by being different. take a look at some of your shows in the morning and evening. if a guest comes out and says something positive about me,

it's brutal. now, they'll take this news conference. i'm actually having a very good time, okay? but they'll take this news conference -- don't forget, that's the way i want it. remember i used to give you a news conference every time i made a speech, which was almost every day. i won by news conferences and probably speeches. i didn't win by people listening to you people, that's for sure. but i'm having a good time. tomorrow they will say donald trump rant and raves at the press. i'm not ranting and raving, i'm just being honest. i'm having a good time doing it. but tomorrow the headlines will be donald trump rants and raves. i'm not ranting and raving. should i let him -- peter, should i let him have another one? sit down. we'll get it. >> just because of the attack of fake news and attacking our network, i just want to ask you, sir -- >> i'm changing it from fake news. very fake.

go ahead. >> real news. real news. >> and you're not related to our new -- >> i am not related. i do like the sound of acosta, i must say. >> i looked at that name and i said wait, is there any relation there? >> i'm sure you checked that out. >> i checked it. i said, go back and check the family tree. >> aren't you concerned, sir, that you are undermining people's faith in the first amendment freedom of the press, the press of this country, when you call stories you don't like fake news? why not just say it's a story i don't like? >> i do that. here's the thing. and you're right about that except this. i know when i should get good and when i should get bad. sometimes i'll say, wow, that's going to be a great story, and i'll get killed. i know what's good and bad. i would be a pretty good reporter, not as good as you. but i know what's good, i know what's bad. and when they change it and make it really bad, something that

should be positive. sometimes something that should be very positive they'll make okay. they'll even make it negative. because i'm there, i know what was said, i know who is saying it. i'm there. so it's very important to me -- look, i want to see an honest press. i started off today by saying that it's so important to the public to get an honest press. the public doesn't believe you people anymore. now, maybe i had something to do with that, i don't know. but they don't believe you. if you were straight and really told it like it is, as howard cosell used to say, right? of course, he had some questions also. but if you were straight, i would be your biggest booster, i would be your biggest fan in the world, including bad stories about me. but if you go, as an example, you're cnn. it's story after story after story is bad. i won. i won. and the other thing, chaos.

there's zero chaos. we are running -- this is a fine-tuned machine and reince happens to be doing a good job, but half of his job is putting out lies by the press. i said to him yesterday -- you know, this whole russia scam that you guys are building so you don't talk about the real subject which is illegal leaks. but i watched him yesterday working so hard to try and get that story proper, and i'm saying, here's my chief of staff, a really good guy. did a phenomenal job at rnc. we won the election, right? we won the presidency. we got some senators, we got -- all over the country, take a look, he's done a good job. take a look at reince. he's working so hard just putting out fires that are fake fires. they're fake. they're not true. and isn't that a shame, because he'd rather be working on health care. he'd rather be working on tax reform, jim. i mean that.

i would be your biggest fan in the world if you treated me right. i sort of understand there is a certain bias maybe by jeff or somebody for whatever reason. but -- and i understand that. but you've got to be at least a little bit fair. and that's why the public sees it. they see it's not fair. you take a look at some of your shows and you see the bias and hatred. the public is smart. they understand it. go ahead. >> for those who believe that there is something to it, is there anything that you have learned over these last few weeks that you might be able to reveal that might ease our

concerns of this fake news and secondly -- >> i don't believe it. i don't think they believe it. i guess one of the reasons i'm here today is to tell you, the whole russian thing, that's a ruse. that's a ruse. by the way, it would be great if we could get along with russia, just so you understand that. tomorrow you'll say, donald trump wants to get along with russia, this is terrible. it's not terrible, it's good. we had hillary clinton try and do a reset. we had hillary clinton give russia 20% of the uranium in our country. you know what uranium is, right? this thing called nuclear weapons and other things like lots of things are done with uranium, including some bad things. nobody talks about that. i didn't do anything for russia. i've done nothing for russia. hillary clinton gave him 20% of our uranium. hillary clinton did a reset, remember, with the stupid plastic button that made us all look like a bunch of jerks. here, take a look. he looked at her like, what the hell is she doing with that cheap plastic button? that was a reset, remember? now, if i do that, i'm a bad guy. if we could get along with russia, that's a positive thing.

we have a very talented man, rex tillerson, who is going to be meeting with them shortly, and i told him, i said, i know politically is probably not the best thing for me. the greatest thing i could do is shoot that ship right out of the wa water he. everyone would say, that's so great. that's not great. that's not great. i would love to be able to get along with russia. you've had a lot of presidents have haven't taken that attack. look where we are now. so if i can -- now, i love to negotiate things, i do it really well and all that stuff, but it's possible i won't be able to get along with putin. maybe it is. but i want to just tell you, the false reporting by the media, by you people. the false, horrible, fake reporting makes it much harder to make a deal with russia. and probably putin said, you know, he's sitting behind his

desk, and he's saying, you know, i see what goes on in the united states. they follow it closely. it's got to be impossible for trump to ever get along with russia. because of all the pressure he's got with this fake story. okay? that's a shame. because if we could get along with russia -- and by the way, china and japan and everyone. if we could get along, it would be a positive thing, not a negative thing. [ inaudible ] >> that will happen fairly quickly. we are doing obamacare. we are in final stages. we should submit the final plan in march, early march i would say, we have to for reasons of budget, we have to go first. frankly, the tax would be easier, in my opinion, but pour statutory reasons and budget reasons we have to submit health care sooner. so we will submit in early march, mid march and we are doing very well on tax reform.

yes? >> mr. president, you mentioned russia. let's talk about what you had to deal with as president of the united states. for [ inaudible ] >> did not do it. not good. not good. >> -- between the two countries and russian plane buzz -- >> not good. not good. excuse me, excuse me. when did it happen? it happened when, if you were putin, right now, you would say, a, we're back to the old games with the united states. there's no way trump can ever do a deal with us because the -- you have to understand, if i was just brutal on russia right now, just brutal, people would say, you would say, isn't that wonderful? but i know you well enough. then you would say, oh, he is too tough. he shouldn't have done that. >> i'm just trying to find out your orientation -- >> excuse me, all of those things that you mentioned are very recent. because probably putin assumes he won't be able to make a deal with me because it is

politically not popular for me to make a deal. so hillary clinton tries to reset. it failed. they all tried. but i'm different than those people. good ahead. >> how are you interpreting those moves and what did you intend -- did you ask rex tillerson for advice -- >> i have. i'm beautifully represented. i'm so honored the senate approved him. he will be fantastic. >> is putin testing you, do you believe, sir? >> no, i don't think so. i think putin assumes he can't make a deal with me any more because it would be unpopular for a politician to make a deal. i can't believe i'm saying i'm a politician but i guess i am now. it would be much easier for me to be tough on russia, but they won't make a deal. i don't know that we're going to make deal. i don't know. we might, we might not. but it would be much easier for me to be so tough -- the tougher i am on russia, the better. but i want to do the right thing for the american people. and to be honest, secondarily, i want to do the right thing for the world. if russia and the united states

actually got together and got along, and don't forget, we're a very powerful nuclear country and so are they. there is in upside. there is no upside.. there is no upsidthere is no up. we are a very powerful nuclear country, and so are are they. i've been briefed and i can tell you one thing about a briefing that we're allowed to say because anybody that ever read the most basic book can say it, nuclear holocaust would be like no other. they are a very powerful nuclear country, and so are we. if we have a good relationship with russia, believe me, that's a good thing. not a bad thing. >> when you say they're not good -- >> who did i say is not good -- >> i read off the three things that recently happened. does it damage the relationship -- >> they all happened recent -- >> no, we will see what happens. >> they all happened recently? >> they all happened recently and i understand they are doing the same thing. maybe i'm not going to be able to do a deal but at least i will have tried and if i don't, does anybody really think that

hillary clinton would be be tougher on russia an donald trump? does anybody really believe that?tan donald trump? does anybody really believe that?han donald trump? does anybody really believe that? she tried to make a deal. she had the reset. she gave the valuable uranium away. they say i'm close to russia. hillary clinton gave away 20% of the uranium in the united states. she's close to russia. you know what i gave to russia? you know what i gave? nothing. >> can we conclude there will be no response to these particular provocations? >> i'm not telling you anything about any response i do. i don't talk about military response. i don't say i'm going into mosul in four months. we are going to attack mosul in four months. then three months. then next week we are going to attack mosul. the meantime they are very difficult. you know why? because i don't talk about military and i don't talk about certain other things. you will be surprised to hear that. by the way, my whole campaign i would say that.

so i don't have to tell you, i don't want to be one of the guys that says yes here is what we are going to do. i don't have to do that. i don't have to tell you what i'm going to do in north korea. i don't have to tell you what i'm going to do in north korea. and i don't have to tell you what i'm going to do with iran. you know why? because they shouldn't know. and eventually you guys are going to get tired of asking that question. so when you ask me what am i going to do with a ship? the russian ship as an example. i'm not going to tell you. hopefully i won't have to do anything. but i won't tell you. >> thanks. >> mr. president? >> where are you from? >> bbc. >> okay. here is another beauty. >> a good line. impartial, free and fair. >> yeah, sure. >> just like cnn. on the travel ban, we could banter back and forth. on the travel ban would you accept that is smooth running of government?

are there mistakes with that? >> i know who you are, just wait. let me tell you about the travel ban. we had a very smooth roll-out of the travel ban. but we had a bad court. a bad decision. maybe wrong but i think 80 percent of the time, a lot. we had a bad decision. we will keep going. we will put in a new executive order next week sometime. but we had a bad decision. that's the only thing wrong with the travel ban. you had delta with a massive problem with their computer system at the airports. you had some people that were put out there, brought by very nice buses and put out at various locations. despite that, the only problem we had, is we had a bad court. we had a court with what gave us i think is a very bad decision. very bad for the safety and security of our country. the roll-out was perfect. what i wanted to do was do the exact same executive order but said one thing.

and i said this to my people. give them a one-month period of time. but general kelly, now secretary kelly, said if you do that, all of these people will come in and in the month. the bad ones. you do agree there are bad people out there, right? not everybody is like you. there are some bad people out there. so kelly said, you can't do that. and he was right. as soon as he said it, i said, wow, never thought of it. i said, how about one week? he said, no good. you have to do it immediately. if you do it immediately they don't have time to come in. nobody ever reports that. but that's why we did it quickly. now if i would have done it a month, everything would have been perfect. the problem is, we would have wasted a lot of time and maybe a lot of bad people could have come in our country. in the meantime we are vetting very strongly. very, very strongly. but we need help and we need help by getting that executive order passed. >> if it is so urgent why not --

>> i was hoping we could get a yes or no answer on one of these questions involving russia. can you say whether you are aware whether anyone who advised your campaign had contacts with russia during the context of your election? >> i told you general flynn was dealing. that's one person. but dealing, as he should have did not -- >> during the election? >> no one i'm aware of. >> so you're not aware -- >> how many times do i have to answer this. >> can you say yes or no? >> russia is a ruse. i have nothing to do with russia. haven't made a phone call to russia in years. don't speak to people russia. not that i wouldn't, i don't have anyone to speak to. i spoke to putin twice. i spoke to him on election and he called me on inauguration. lasted a long time.

it was classified so i'm sure everyone in this room has it. we had a very, very good talk. i have nothing to do with russia. to the best of my knowledge, no person that i deal with -- manafort denied it. people knew he was a consultant in that part of the world for a while, but not for russia. i think he represented ukraine or people in ukraine or whoever. but people knew that. everybody knew that. >> in his capacity as your campaign manager, was he in touch with election officials -- >> he said no. i can only tell you -- he was replaced long before the election, you know that, right? he was replaced long before the election. when all of this stuff started coming out. it came out during the election. paul manafort, a good man, paul manafort was replaced long before the election took place. he was only there for a short period of time. how much longer should we stay here, folks? five more minutes. is that okay? five.

wait, i want to find a friendly reporter. >> right here. >> are you a friendly reporter? >> i'm friendly. >> watch how friendly. watch how friendly he is. good ahead. [ inaudible ] >> so first of all, my name is jake -- my colleagues have been reporting, i haven't seen anybody in my opinion accuse either yourself or any of -- anyone on your staff of being anti-semitic. we understand -- [ inaudible ] >> thank you. >> however, what we are concerned about and what we haven't really heard being addressed is an uptick in anti-semitism and how the government is planning to take care of it. there is a report out that 48 bomb threats have been made across centers the last couple of weeks. there are people committing anti-semitic acts --

>> you see, he said he would ask a very simple easy question. it is not. not a simple question. not a fair question. okay, sit down. i understand the rest of your question. here is the story, folks. number one, i am the least anti-semitic person you've ever seen in your entire life. number two, racism. the least racist person. in fact, we did very well relative to other people running as a republican. quiet, quiet, quiet. he lied about he was going to get up and ask a straight simple question. welcome to the world of the media. let me just tell you something, that i hate the charge. i find it repulsive. i hate even the question because people that know me, and you heard the prime minister, you heard bb yesterday, and you

should take that instead of asking an insulting question like that. go ahead. >> thank you. >> this shows you about the press but that's the way the press is. >> thank one mr. president. lisa from bbs news hour. can you give us details on the executive order you plan for next week. even the broad outlines. >> very fair question. >> in addition for the program for immigration, what is your plan? do you plan to continue that program or end it? >> we will show great heart. daca is a very, very difficult subject for me. you have these incredible kids, in many cases, not all cases. in some cases, some are gang members and drug dealers too. but have you some absolutely incredible kids. i would say mostly.

they were brought here in such a way, it is a very, very tough subject. we will deal with daca with heart. i have to deal with a lot of politicians, don't forget, and i have to convince them that what i'm saying is right. and i appreciate your understanding on that. but the daca situation is a very, very -- a very difficult thing for me. because i love these kids. i love kids. i have kids. and grandkids. and i find it very, very hard doing what the law says exactly to do. and you know the law is rough. i'm not talking about new laws. i'm talking existing law. is very rough. it is very, very rough. as far as the new order, the new order is going to be very much tailored to the, what i consider to be a very bad decision. but we can tailor the order to that decision and get just about everything, and in some ways more, but we are tailoring it to the decision. we have some of the best lawyers in the country working on it. and the new executive order is being tailored to the decision

we got down from the court. okay? >> melania reopening the white house visitors office -- >> yes. >> she does a lot of great work for the country as well. can you talk about what melania trump does for the country and is there an interest in your administration so by opening the white house visitor's office, what does that mean to you? >> now that's what i call a nice question. that is very nice. who are you with? [ inaudible ] >> good. i'm going to start watching. thank you very much. melania is terrific. she was here last night. we had dinner with senator rubio, and his wife. who is, by the way, lovely. we had a very good discussion on cuba. we have similar views on cuba. cuba was very good to me in the election, the cuban-americans. i think melania will be outstanding. she just opened up the visitor's

center, touring of the white house. she like others she is working with feel very strongly about women's issues. women's difficulties. very, very strongly. she is a very, very strong advocate. i think she is a great representative for this country. and funny thing happens because she gets so unfairly -- the things they say. i've known her for a long time. she was a very successful person. very successful model. she did really well. she would go home at night and didn't even want to go out with people. she was a very private person. she was always the highest quality that you will ever find. and the things they say, and i have known her for a long time. the things they say are so unfair. and she has been apologized to as you know by various media because they said things that were lies. i think she will be a fantastic first lady.

she will be a tremendous representative of women and of the people and helping her and working her will be ivanka who is a fabulous person. and a fabulous, fabulous woman. they are not doing this for money. they aren't doing this for pay. they are doing this because they feel it, both of them. and melania goes back and forth. after baron finishes school. it is hard to take a child out of school with a few months left, she and baron will move over to the white house. thank you. very nice question. >> mr. president -- >> oh, this will be a bad question. but okay. >> no. >> okay. good. i enjoy watching you. >> thank you so much. mr. president i need to find out from you, you said something as it relates to innecities. that was one of your platforms during your campaign -- >> fix inner cities. >> fixing inner cities. what will be that fix and your

urban agenda as well as hbcu executive order coming out this afternoon. see, it wasn't bad, was it. >> very professional. >> very professional. >> we will announce the order in a little while. i would rather the order speak for itself but it will be very good for everybody concerned. we will talk to you about that after we do the announcement. as far as inner cities, as you know, we are very strong on inner cities during the campaign. i think it is what got me a much higher percentage of the african-american vote than people thought i would get. much higher than people thought i was going to get. i was honored by that. including the hispanic vote which was much higher. and if i might add, including the women's vote which was much higher than people thought i was going to get. so we are going to be working hard on the inner cities having to do with education. having to do with crime. we are going to try and fix as quickly as possible, it takes a long time, taken a hundred years or more for some of the places to evolve and they evolved, many of them badly.

but we will work hard on health and health care. very, very hard on education. and also we're going to be working in a stringent way and very good way on crime. you go to some inner city places and it's so sad when you look at the crime. you have people, and i have seen this and i sort of witnessed it. in fact in two cases i have witnessed it, they lock themselves into apartments he petrified to even leave in the middle of the day. they are living in hell. we can't let that happen. it is a great question and a very difficult situation because it's been many, many years. it's been festering for many years. but we have places in this country we have it fitit fixoi . we have to help african-american people that for the most part are stuck there. hispanic-american people. we have hispanic-american people in inner cities and they live in hell.

you look at numbers in chicago. there are two chicagos, as you know. one chicago that is incredible, luxurious and safe. there is another chicago that is worse than almost any of the places in the middle east that you talk about every night on the newscasts. so we will do a lot of work on inner cities. i have great people lined up to help in the inner cities. >> when you say inner cities, are you going to include the cbc in your conversations with urban city agenda as well as -- >> include who. >> the congressional black caucus and the -- >> i would. you want to set up the meeting? do you want to set up the meeting? are they friends of yours? >> no. >> set up a meeting. >> i know some of them. >> set up a meeting. i would love to meet with the black caucus. i think it is great. congressional black caucus. i think it's great. i actually thought i had a meeting with congressman cummings. he was all excited.

then he said, oh, i can't move. it might be bad for me politically. i can't have that meeting. i was all set to have the meeting. we called him and called him. he was all set. i spoke to him on the phone. very nice guy. >> i heard that he wanted that meeting as well. >> we called, called, called. can't make a meeting with him. everyday i walk in, i want a meeting with him. i do want to solve the problem. but he was probably told by schumer or somebody like that, some other lightweight, probably told, he was probably told don't meet with trump. it's bad politics. that's part of the problem in this country. one more. >> one question. can't handle two. give me the better of your two. >> i will follow up on my colleague's question. it is not about your personality or your beliefs. we are talking about rising anti-semitism around the

country, some of it by supporters in your name -- >> and can i be honest with you? this has to do with racism. some of it written by our opponents. do you understand that? you don't think anybody would do a thing like that. some of the signs you will see are not put up by the people that love or like donald trump. they are put up by the other side. you think it is playing it straight. no. you have some of those signs and some anger caused by the other side. they will do signs and do drawings that are inappropriate. it won't be my people. it will be the people on the other side to anger people like you. okay. >> what are you going to do about it? >> who is that? oh, stand up. [ inaudible ] >> oh, i'm working on it. look, hey, just so you understand, we had a totally

divided country for eight years and long before that. in fairness to president obama, long before president obama. we have add very divided -- i didn't divide this country. this country was seriously divided before i got here. we will work on it she hard. one of the questions, i thought was good, is about the inner cities. that's part of it. but we will work on education. work on -- stop and try and stop the crime. we have great law enforcement officials. we will try and stop crime. we're not going to try and stop, we're going to stop crime. but it is very important to me. but this isn't donald trump that divided nation. we went eight years with president obama and we went many years before president obama. >> in case you missed it, the president's news conference and announcement on his new choice for labor secretary reairs tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span. also available on our website, c-span.org. and this tweet from the cbc,

reacting to comments by the president, the congressional black caucus, hi don donald trump. we are the cbc. we sent you a letter on january 19 but you never wrote us back. sad. and that tweet from the cbc. this tweet, defense secretary mattis answered a few questions on u.s. relations with russia today at conclusion of a nato meeting in brussels. he was asked about russian infl influence in the u.s. election. >> thank you, sir. what does russia need to stop doing in order for the u.s. to work with it? chairman of the joint chiefs is meeting with his russian counterpart for the first time since russia invaded ukraine. can you trust the russians? >> jennifer, i think the point about russia is they have to live by international law just like we expect all mature nations on this planet to do. and what we will do is we will engage politically.

we do not or are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward where russia, find common ground or a way forward where russia living up to its commitments will return to a partnership of sorts here with na nato. russia is going to have to prove itself first and live up to the commitments they have made in the russia nato agreement. >> just to clarify, do you believe that the russians interfered in the u.s. elections? >> right now i would just say there's very little doubt that they have either interfered or they have attempted to interfere in a number of elections in the democracies. the senate has confirmed the budget office. it was approved on a 51-49 vote.

he'll head the office of management and budget and present the president's plan to congress. a look at how the president's nominees are progressing so far. scott prewitt gets a vote this week. dr. ben carson for housing and urban development and former texas governor rick perry to head the energy department. nominees still to get through committees includes sonny purdue, terry branstad, former new mexico congresswoman